Canvas
by hanemg
Summary: Sequel to Drop Cloth. Eric Summers is recruited by Lionel to monitor Chloe's investigation of Clark.
1. Default Chapter

Canvas (The Pawn)  
  
by: hanemg  
  
Disclaimer: I neither own nor claim any formalized attachment with Smallville or its characters. This work of fan fiction is purely for enjoyment purposes only and no profit is gained with its use. Smallville and all its characters are the property of Warner Bros., DC Comics, Miller/Gough, Tolin-Robbins, et al.  
  
Eric Summers was tired. In the past several months he had been poked and prodded by every medical instrument known to man and a few that possibly weren't. He was coming to think of himself as a tissue donor more than a person.  
  
Walking into his room he heard the door slam and lock behind him. The room itself looked like a standard issue hospital room. "Or upscale jail cell" Eric thought to himself. There was a separate bathroom with a commode, sink and shower, but the bedroom itself held just a bed. Nothing else.  
  
Eric had no idea where he was and hadn't seen his parents in months. One night shortly after his incarceration he had been awakened from a sound sleep and bundled into a van, which had transported him to God knew wherever this was. It was a situation, which could have been easily rectified if he still had his powers, but that was no longer an option. Clark Kent had seen to that.  
  
For the thousandth time Eric cursed Clark's name. For a few days he had been a god. He had thought that nothing could hurt him and even when the police came for him he had nothing to fear. Each time someone came to draw another vial of blood he wished he could toss them around like he had the police that night.  
  
The experiments were endless, as were the questions. He had gone over the day he had discovered his powers and the days surrounding it a thousand times and when he was finished he was asked to go over it again. Again and again he was forced to relive those few days when he walked the Earth like some kind of superman and the joy of knowing that nothing could hurt him was mingled with the self-disgust that everyone had feared him. Even his parents. Eric was sure that this was why they didn't come to see him.  
  
The time that should have been the best of his life was ruined by the fact that everyone he encountered instantly looked at him like he was a freak. A monster that was going to steal all of their children and murder the innocent townsfolk. Eric would have laughed at the thought if he could wipe from his memory the image of mother's face frozen in fear as she pulled away from his embrace just before the police arrived.  
  
Going over those events again and again did have the effect of convincing Eric that Clark was the common denominator in all of his problems. He often found himself wishing that he had thrown Clark a bit harder into that car. If he had maybe he wouldn't be where he was today. Either way, if he ever got out he would have his day of reckoning.  
  
"If I get out," Eric said aloud ruefully. The sound of his voice echoing in his empty room. He was starting to give up hope.  
  
He didn't know who had him, but he no longer thought it was the authorities. At least not the local authorities he told himself. These people only seemed to be focused on what he had been able to do. They had subjected him to numerous experiments in the attempt to "restart" whatever had happened to him before. All of the experiments had been failures and most had been painful.  
  
In fact, the longer he went without being able to exhibit any signs of regaining his powers the more cavalier the scientists had started to become with the variety of experiments they subjected him to. Each one had been more elaborate and more painful than the previous one. Eric sometimes thought that they were simply trying to outdo one another with the absurdities they could subject him to while still allowing him to live.  
  
But, he had made it through another day and sleep beckoned him. Laying his head on his pillow he quickly fell asleep.  
  
*************************** The feeling of someone nudging his shoulder ended his night's sleep much too soon for Eric's liking.  
  
"Get up, kid," the enormous orderly said. "The doc wants to get an early start. I think he has something new he wants to try today."  
  
"Wonderful," muttered Eric as he began to get out of bed. He had learned after only a couple of days that being slow to comply was seen as the same as non-compliance. He didn't questions orders twice anymore or even once for that matter. The big orderly whose name he had never learned had impressed that point upon him.  
  
He quickly donned hospital scrubs, his usual daily wear, and preceded the orderly out of the room.  
  
At the end of the corridor he passed through a set of double doors into the lab. There by a table stacked full of books and various lab equipment stood a tall, thin man with a balding head wearing a lab coat. He was bent over the table studying the pages of a notebook with an intensity, which would have led one to believe they were filled with ancient hieroglyphics telling the location of lost treasure.  
  
"Ah, good morning, Eric." Dr. Stephens said as he looked up at Eric's approach. "How are you feeling this morning?"  
  
"Fine." Eric answered. He figured any other answer would be ignored anyway so why bother swapping pleasantries.  
  
"Excellent, excellent." Dr. Stephens replied absently as he picked up the notebook he had been studying and began walking further into the lab. "I have a new line of inquiry I wish to pursue that I think may gain us some results."  
  
Eric wasn't sure who the "us" was that Dr. Stephens was referring to, but he was sure that he wasn't included so he remained silent as he followed the scientist.  
  
"We've seen, " Stephens continued as he walked, "that your cells are responsive to the radiation given off by the meteor rocks, but we've never found anything useful about that responsiveness. Every amino acid, every chemical substance, gene therapy, all of them have proven useless. We've even tried low levels of electricity since it was involved in both the gaining and losing your powers."  
  
"Then, a few days ago, it occurred to me. No human could have exhibited the powers you did without a radical change to their DNA, yet yours is basically normal except when it comes into contact with the radiation from the meteor rocks. Then it becomes reactive, but does nothing more. What if, I thought, the reactivity is simply the readiness to change, but it lacks the template on which to model itself and the power to accomplish the transformation. If that was the case then the electricity provided the power for the change, and something in your environment provided the template for your cells to mimic. Otherwise, the initial lightning bolt would have fried you instead of giving you enormous power."  
  
"But what could I have been around that had that kind of power?" Eric asked.  
  
"That, my boy, is a very good question. It may even be that whatever you were around didn't have the same abilities or properties you ended up with and the powers you exhibited were simply your DNA's expression of what it was trying to mimic. Either way, we're going to test my hypothesis today."  
  
"How are you going to do that?"  
  
"That's where I come in, Mr. Summers." said a new voice from behind him.  
  
Eric turned around to face a tall man in his late forties with long brown hair, a moustache, and a goatee.  
  
"And you would be..?"  
  
"Lionel Luthor."  
  
End Part 1 


	2. Chapter 2

Canvas - Part 2  
  
"Luthor," Eric repeated. "as in the LuthorCorp Luthors ?"  
  
The tall man smiled and replied, "The very ones."  
  
"What do you have to do with this?" Eric asked.  
  
"Oh," Lionel said gesturing to the room at large, "all this belongs to LuthorCorp. A, um, relative convinced me of the feasibility of purchasing a top rate lab. Cadmus is at the leading edge of DNA research. A criterion that fortunately the government was looking for when they were trying to find somewhere to house you. One research proposal later, well..here you are."  
  
"Glad I could be of assistance," Eric replied sarcastically.  
  
Lionel smiled at this. "I know you don't feel that you've been treated very well since you've been here, Eric, but let me assure you, this is much better than a prison cell. You don't have any roommates here looking to, say..'hook up.' And I also assure you, the competition for this project had quiet a few proposals that prominently featured the term 'dissection.'"  
  
Eric swallowed involuntarily at the word "dissection" and unconsciously lowered his eyes.  
  
"I believe, " Lionel continued, "that you can be of a great deal more use than that. If Dr. Stephens' theory is correct you could potentially be anything you wanted. Think about it Eric, DNA that can take on any properties you want and give you any abilities you desire."  
  
Lionel stepped forward toward Eric capturing his eyes again.  
  
"Your usefulness would be immeasurable. You wouldn't be a freak anymore, Eric. You'd be a hero. Someone everyone else desires to be. Isn't that what you wanted all along?"  
  
Eric held Lionel's eyes for a second and then asked, "What do I have to do?"  
  
"Not a great deal, Eric. You'll have to undergo a little medical procedure first. Purely to assure your safety, of course," Lionel hastened to add, "then we'll proceed with the template experiment."  
  
"What type of medical procedure?"  
  
"Oh, we just need to hook up some monitoring and safety devices. Nothing overly large or cumbersome. They're just some things that we need to make sure the experiment stays under our control. The entire procedure will take less than 30 minutes and then after about an hour or so recovery time from the anesthesia we can proceed."  
  
"You'll be perfectly safe, Eric." Dr. Stephens added before turning toward the orderly and saying, "Brian, take Eric into the OR and get him stra..situated on the operating table. The other staff is already waiting and I'll be in shortly."  
  
Without a word Brian, as Eric now knew his guard's name, took Eric's arm and began directing him toward the OR. At a loss for any other action, Eric cooperated.  
  
"How soon may we begin, doctor?" Lionel asked.  
  
"Just as you told him, within two hours we can proceed with phase two of the experiment."  
  
"And the safeguards you'll be installing?"  
  
"I'm sure they'll be more than adequate, Mr. Luthor."  
  
"You'd better be, doctor. I don't deal well with incompetence and more than one of my projects has failed because someone got overconfident. This one had better be a qualified success. Or else."  
  
Lionel had leaned slightly forward as he spoke, his eyes burrowing into Dr. Stephens', using his superior height to force the scientist to look up as he backed away slightly. When Stephens swallowed and looked away Lionel smiled in satisfaction.  
  
"You'd better hurry along, doctor. Destiny awaits."  
  
*********************************************  
  
When Eric awoke he was in a different part of the lab. He tried to rise up, but quickly discovered that he was restrained to the bed on which he was laying.  
  
"Ah, Eric. You're awake," said Dr. Stephens as he stepped into view. "How are you feeling?"  
  
'OK, I guess, " Eric replied looking around. "What exactly did you do to me? I don't see any monitors attached to me."  
  
"That's not the kind of safety equipment we implanted, Eric," Lionel said startling Eric as he approached the bed from the other side.  
  
"What do you mean?"  
  
"Well, Eric, let's be honest. You're asking us to give you a great deal of power and then just trust that you'll use it appropriately once you have it. I'm afraid trust is one of those things I never really developed. I prefer to have assurances, so that's what we have installed. Assurances."  
  
"I actually don't remember asking you to do anything and I'm not real sure I like the sound of the word 'assurances.'" Eric replied.  
  
"Come now, Eric. For a short time you had incredible power. People respected you. Are you telling me you don't want that again?"  
  
"I don't think 'respect' was the operative word and I still want to know about these 'assurances'."  
  
"Don't be naïve. Fear is the sincerest form of respect. People are fickle. If they willingly give respect they can just as willingly take it away. Fear is a power unto itself. As long as you stir that fear you command their respect. It's no longer something they give, but something you take!"  
  
Lionel's eyes had taken on a maniacal gleam as he spoke and Eric began to understand what he was talking about because he was starting to feel a great deal of fear of Lionel at this moment. He was silent for a moment after Lionel quit speaking and then asked again, "What did you do to me?"  
  
Lionel leaned forward putting his face near Eric's.  
  
"We implanted a tracking device and some explosives," he said matter of factly.  
  
'What?!" Eric screamed.  
  
"What did you think, Eric? I would give you the power of a god and not have some means of controlling you? You really are naïve. The next stage of this experiment will determine whether or not your DNA can mimic another's abilities. Should this work then the following and final stage will be an attempt to return you to your former strength and abilities. I'm not doing this for the glory of science, Eric. I'm doing this for the benefit of having someone with those abilities at my beck and call. That won't work if I can't force that person to respond now will it?"  
  
"I'll explain this simply. There is a tracking device and an explosive device, both with redundant systems, placed in your body. I will know where you are at all times. If you try to escape, the explosive will be triggered. If you disobey me, the explosive will be triggered. If you fail to behave in the appropriate manner, the explosive will be triggered. If I in any way do not feel that you are cooperating, the explosive will be triggered. Are you starting to see a trend here?"  
  
Eric nodded his head slowly as he digested this new development.  
  
"For over a year now you have been a failed experiment. It's been suggested on numerous occasions that at this point we could probably learn more from dissecting you than from continuing to spend good money after bad. If this works, though, I will make you rich beyond your wildest dreams. You'll live in luxury and all I ask is that you perform a few small favors for me from time to time. Many of which I'm sure you'll even enjoy doing. That sounds like a fair trade doesn't it?"  
  
Beginning to feel resigned Eric simply asked, "What's next?"  
  
"That's the spirit, Eric." Lionel said smiling and moving back from the bed. "As I said earlier, stage two is where I come in. Cadmus has a great deal of knowledge and resources, but nothing they could really use to test Dr. Stephens' theory in a practical manner. Certainly they could have used any old DNA that was lying around, but I didn't really see the need to turn you into a dog or cat or some other pet."  
  
Eric's eyes widened slightly as he began to understand the ramifications that Lionel was talking about.  
  
"I have certain resources, however, that Cadmus lacks. Resources that will allow a test, while not risking any gross deformities that the introduction of an animal's DNA may cause. "  
  
Lionel gestured to Brian who had come to stand by Eric's bed and he began to undo the restraints.  
  
"These resources should allow you to return to your former glory, Eric. And we'll all work hard together to make sure that we don't repeat past mistakes."  
  
Once the restraints were removed Eric was pulled to his feet and directed to follow Lionel as he continued talking.  
  
"I know that things did not go well with your parents in the past, Eric, but we'll soon sit down with them and explain how you have just become the next step in humanity's evolution."  
  
Eric nodded numbly as he was led into a room with several large pieces of equipment including another bed with restraints, only this one looked vaguely like something out of a science Fiction story and was connected to an even larger apparatus.  
  
Dr. Stephens approached the workstation and began to study the controls while Brian led Eric to the bed and began strapping him down. Once this had been accomplished the entire bed was tilted forward so that Eric was now in an upright position.  
  
"We're almost ready to begin, Eric. Just relax," Dr. Stephens said.  
  
Stepping forward Lionel placed his hands on either side of Eric's face and said, "Just think about it, Eric. If this works you'll be a blank canvas just waiting for me to paint a masterpiece onto your very being. Someone that will make the very world tremble."  
  
"But we still don't know what my genes mimicked to begin with, Mr. Luthor. How am I going to regain my powers if I don't even know what I got them from."  
  
Lionel smiled briefly and replied, "All in good time, Eric. All in good time. For right now let's just see how good a theoretical scientist Dr. Stephens is."  
  
Stepping back Lionel moved aside and Eric noticed for the first time that a little girl had entered the room and approached him. She took his hand without a word and simply stared at him curiously.  
  
"For now," Lionel repeated placing a bar of what appeared to be pure meteor rock in Eric's other hand, "let's just see if you can be everything that this little girl is."  
  
"I don't understand. What am I supposed to mimic about her?" Eric said beginning to feel slightly fearful.  
  
"Let's just say that she's a bit more than she appears to be," was Lionel's only answer.  
  
Dr. Stephens interrupted at that point.  
  
"Now Eric," he began, "this is going to be slightly different than the other experiments. In the past we used low level electricity just to see how your cells reacted. However, now we are working on the assumption that your cells aren't reacting to the electricity, but rather the electricity is simply the source that powers your cells' ability to change. As such, we're going to have to use a much higher power setting than we have in the past."  
  
"How much higher?"  
  
"Well, since we're not exactly sure how much is needed to initiate a transformation we'll use the equivalent of a lightning bolt just to be on the safe side and duplicate the original conditions."  
  
"A lightning bolt?!" Eric screamed, "But, but what if your theory is wrong?"  
  
"As they say, Eric," Lionel said with a smirk, "can't make an omelet without breaking a few eggs. If all else fails, at least there is still the dissection clause in the original research proposal."  
  
Turning to Stephens he said, "You may begin, Doctor."  
  
End Part 2 


	3. Chapter 3

Canvas - Part 3  
  
Eric remembered the pain. No matter what had been done to him before it never hurt as bad as that original lightning strike. It was something he used to take comfort in. Until now. This pain was just as incredible and it wasn't until he became aware of the screams of the young girl whose hand he holding that he realized he was screaming too. Then mercifully, unconsciousness came.  
  
*********************  
  
When Eric regained consciousness he was back in the recovery room. Looking around he was able to identify Dr. Stephens, Brian and Mr. Luthor, but he noticed that the little girl was gone. He also noticed that his insides felt like they were on fire.  
  
An involuntary gasp of pain from Eric alerted the others in the room that their patient was again conscious.  
  
"Hello, Eric," Lionel said. "How are you feeling?"  
  
"Like I'm being eaten alive by fire ants."  
  
"That's because your DNA is realigning," said Dr. Stephens.  
  
"It's fascinating to watch," he continued. "I took a tissue sample after the procedure was completed and I can actually see your cell structure mutating."  
  
"Yes, Eric," said Mr. Luthor "it seems as though this experiment has been a success after all."  
  
"Then why am I burning and tingling all over?"  
  
"Like I said, Eric," said Dr. Stephens, "it's because your cells are mutating. But, don't worry the burning sensation will pass just like it did the first time you got your powers."  
  
"It didn't feel like this the first time."  
  
Dr. Stephens and Mr. Luthor looked at each other before turning back to Eric.  
  
"What do you mean it didn't feel this way before?" asked Mr. Luthor.  
  
"The lightning knocked me unconscious, but when I woke up I felt normal. It wasn't until later that I realized that I was stronger and faster and that nothing could hurt me."  
  
Lionel turned to Stephens and cocked an eyebrow.  
  
"These are different circumstances," Stephens sputtered starting to feel scared. "We don't know what gave Eric his powers before. The little girl just has the power of super speed not the others. His invulnerability may have kept him from feeling uncomfortable."  
  
"Ummm." Lionel commented as he nodded his head. "Well, at any rate we still need to see if the speed transferred over."  
  
"Yes," Stephens said quickly, "let's just monitor him for a couple of hours and then we'll go out to the track and start the tests."  
  
**************************  
  
Two hours later the pain Eric had experienced upon regaining consciousness was gone and he was standing on the side of a running track with Mr. Luthor, Dr. Stephens and a couple of big guys in dark suits that Eric figured were bodyguards. Whether they were there for him or Mr. Luthor was an entirely different matter.  
  
Eric was dressed in shorts, a sleeveless T-shirt and running shoes, a stark contrast to the shirts and ties worn by everyone else.  
  
"Ok, Eric," Dr. Stephens began, "we're going to do some speed trials. We're not concerned for the moment how fast you are, we just want to make sure that you have gained extraordinary speed."  
  
"How would I have gotten speed from that little girl? And what happened to her anyway?" Eric asked.  
  
"Apparently she's extremely fast herself, but I have no idea how she became that way." Dr. Stephens replied. "As for where she went, she came and left with Mr. Luthor's people. I have no idea other than that."  
  
Eric didn't ask anymore questions, but concentrated on the tests at hand. Within minutes it was verified that Eric had indeed developed the power to run at incredible speeds. His speed also showed itself to be quite beyond the ability of conventional radar to measure. In the end the team had relied upon a stopwatch and simple mathematics to measure it. His top speed by the end of the tests was calculated to be approximately 1150 mph, being able to complete one lap of the quarter mile course in just under a second.  
  
Eric was elated. It wasn't his former status, but it was close enough that he felt energized for the first time in over a year. He was convinced that Luthor would be able to help him get his old powers back. He'd deal with Luthor and his little "assurance" after that happened.  
  
As Eric was led back to his room Dr. Stephens turned to address Lionel.  
  
"Does that count as your qualified success?"  
  
"Yes, doctor. You have done quite well. You'll find I'm not ungrateful."  
  
"May I ask how you intend to arrange for him to regain his other abilities? The girl was an absolutely amazing piece of work, but she was only part of the equation. Do you have something even more incredible hidden away somewhere?"  
  
"Something like that doctor, something like that. And with young Mr. Summers' help I just may be able to lay my hands on it."  
  
**************************************  
  
Later that day Brian again collected Eric from his room and escorted him to a meeting room in a section of the building that he had never been in before.  
  
Entering the room he found it occupied only by Lionel Luthor.  
  
"Eric, good of you to join me. Please, have a seat. We have a great deal to talk about, you and I."  
  
"What exactly?"  
  
"Why, your future of course. It's time to start earning your keep."  
  
"What do you want me to do?" Eric said with a sigh.  
  
"That's a very good attitude to keep, Eric. Obstinance only gets people in trouble. You should remember that."  
  
Lionel laid a file folder in front of Eric and he opened it instantly recognizing the picture at the top of the page.  
  
"That's Chloe Sullivan. What does she have to do with anything?"  
  
"Ms. Sullivan is an employee of mine now, Eric. Much the same way you are. I've asked her to look into some things. Research a valuable artifact that I'm trying to gain possession of. However, in Ms. Sullivan's case, unlike yours, I've developed certain trust issues. I don't think she's being entirely up front with me. And if information is being kept from me it endangers my chances of obtaining this item. " "Where do I some in?" asked Eric.  
  
"You know Smallville. You know Ms. Sullivan. I want you to go there and watch her. I trust that with your speed there will be little danger of your being seen. Is that something you think you can handle?"  
  
"Yeah," said Eric, "it shouldn't be too hard."  
  
"Even if no one can know who you are? Even if you can in no way communicate with anyone from your past? Even your parents?"  
  
Eric said nothing. It had been so long since he had seen or spoke to his parents that he had not even thought about them when Lionel first mentioned his returning to Smallville. Did he even want to see them?  
  
"I."  
  
"Don't answer that just yet, Eric." Interrupted Lionel. "I want you to think about it for a moment. If you can't honestly say you can stay away from them then I can't send you. You're still under a legal sentence. How would it look to the court if you were seen running around free? Seeing your parents does nothing but place both you and them in jeopardy."  
  
"How would they be in danger?"  
  
"The government was very concerned about you Eric. Why do you think you were sent to a genetics lab rather than prison? They wanted you picked apart to see what made you tick. If they thought you were free they would have no qualms about taking your parents into 'protective custody' until they could get to you. And if they get to you, believe me when I say that Cadmus will not be the place they send you back to. It'll be one of those places that where the people think they can get more from a vivisection of your internal organs than from a few experiments. Do you understand what I'm trying to tell you?"  
  
Eric nodded his head numbly as his brain began to slowly process what was being said.  
  
"She also holds the key to you regaining your abilities." Luthor added quietly.  
  
Eric's head jerked up at that and he stared at Luthor.  
  
"What do you mean?"  
  
"I mean, that each time you report to me everywhere she goes and everything she does I'll be one step closer to procuring an object that will not only be very valuable to me, but one that holds the key to providing you with your other abilities as well. Each time you fail to do so will keep our individual dreams that much further from each of our grasps."  
  
"So, can you do it?"  
  
"Yeah," Eric replied, "I can do it."  
  
End - Part 3 


	4. Chapter 4

Part 4  
  
It felt strange to be back in Smallville. Nothing had really changed since he had left, but this time he felt out of place. He essentially had no home as he was not allowed to go to his parents and was cut off from all contact with his old friends.  
  
Luthor had provided him with a cell phone, fake I.D., a few changes of clothes, $1000 in cash, a credit card, and a small supply of equipment that he could use to keep track of Chloe. His appearance had been altered slightly by dying his hair dark brown, changing his hairstyle and adding glasses with a moustache and goatee.  
  
His instructions were to obtain a hotel room in Grandville and run back and forth to Smallville everyday. In Smallville he was supposed to keep a low profile and stay away from anyone he once knew. Otherwise, he was supposed to plant listening devices anywhere Chloe usually frequented or even on or around her person, if needed. The last of course would have to be changed daily, planting it in the mornings and retrieving it in the evenings or whenever she left a particular location. This was where his speed came in. He could run past her as she left the house in the morning, plant a bug in her purse or a loose part of her clothing. Or if he could gain entry to a building or room she was in, he could enter, plant the bug and leave all in less than a second.  
  
He was also told to search her home and office and take note of any written material regarding Clark Kent. The name, like always, caused Eric to tense. He had asked Luthor what the hell Kent had to do with anything, but Luthor had only smiled enigmatically and said that it wasn't important that he know everything, just that in helping in this he would get all the revenge against Clark Kent that he wanted.  
  
**************************  
  
Eric's first order of business was the Sullivan household. Having no experience with breaking and entering and ordered by Lionel to leave no evidence of his visit, Eric had little choice, but to enter when someone was already at home. He had been briefed that the Sullivan household was now home to Lana Lang as well as Chloe and her father so he waited until a time when Gabe was home alone as there was less chance that he would recognize Eric should he see him.  
  
One of the constants about a small town is that people rarely lock their doors during the daylight hours. When Gabe arrived home from work at 5:30 PM it was still very much daylight and Eric waited with nervous anticipation as he walked to the house, collected his mail, unlocked the door and entered. Once Gabe was inside Eric waited thirty seconds and then made a dash for the front door. He opened the door, stepped inside, looked around and after making sure no one was in the front foyer closed the door. The entire action took less than half a second. Continuing through the house he tried to get a fix on Gabe's location first.  
  
This almost proved to be his first mistake as Gabe rounded the corner of the living room humming to himself while Eric stood in plain view in the middle of the room.  
  
Eric's reflexes went into immediate overdrive and time seemed to stand still. Fortunately, Gabe had been looking down at some of his mail so Eric's presence wasn't noted nor his instantaneous disappearance as he shifted into hyper speed and ran upstairs. Once he was sure that Gabe was staying downstairs Eric began to look around for Chloe's room. It was immediately identifiable when he opened the door by the numerous Torch articles decorating a large bulletin board on the wall beside a desk opposite her bed.  
  
He quickly went through the contents of her desk and the bulletin board, but other than some articles with the byline "Clark Kent" he couldn't find a mention of him anywhere. Turning to the computer he noticed that it had been left on, but was in power saver mode. Eric hit a key on the keyboard and after a moment the screen came back up. Unfortunately, the screen that appeared asked for a password before it would allow the user to continue. Eric quickly tried several different guesses that came to mind, but to no avail.  
  
Failing to gain access to the computer he moved to plan "B." Eric quickly turned off the power to the computer at the power strip and using super speed he opened the computer case and removed the hard drive. He pulled a rectangular black machine from his bag that was about 2'' thick and 6'' long. He connected the machine to the hard drive and then flipping a switch on the side observed as a green LED light started flashing signifying the transfer of data.  
  
Luthor had told him that the machine was a new development and should be able to transfer data at the rate of 10 gigabytes per minute. While the machine whirred away, Eric began searching under the bed and in the closets, but found nothing of notice. Finally he settled down to sit and nervously watch the machine as it completed its chore.  
  
After several minutes the green light stopped flashing and a solid red light came on to signify the process was complete. Eric disconnected the hard drive from the machine and quickly reinstalled it into the computer, which he turned back on and allowed to boot up when he was finished. Hopefully, Chloe would just assume that the power had flashed off and on in the house causing the reboot.  
  
As he was placing the black machine back in his bag he heard voices coming up the stairs. Looking outside he saw a red Volkswagon Beetle in the driveway and silently cursed himself because his attention on the machine copying Chloe's hard drive had caused him to totally miss the arrival of whom he assumed was Chloe herself.  
  
Knowing his speed would be useless in hiding him in an enclosed area like a bedroom, Eric did the first thing that came to mind. He hid under the bed. He had just made it under the bed when the bedroom door opened.  
  
"Let me just throw my books on my desk and we'll go downstairs and grab a bite to eat before I drive you to the Talon." Eric heard Chloe say.  
  
She entered the room and shut the door behind her. Eric stayed very still, trying not to breath and ready to bolt if she looked under the bed. He almost jumped up and ran when he suddenly saw her approach the bed and go down on one knee not two feet from his head. He stopped when he saw her put a nail file in the crack between two of the floorboards.  
  
Chloe pulled the loose boards up, dropped a notebook in and then quickly replaced the boards. She then got up, rummaged briefly in her closet and then left the room.  
  
Eric waited a few minutes and then pulled himself out from under the bed. He quickly pried up the floorboards as he had seen Chloe do and found two notebooks tucked in place beneath the floor. He flipped through the pages and read enough to figure that this was at least part of what Lionel had been after. He pulled a small digital camera from his bag and quickly took pictures of each of the pages slowing down only enough to allow the camera to cycle between exposures.  
  
Putting the notebooks back under the floor and placing the floorboards back in place Eric stood and did a quick sweep of the room to find a good hiding place for the bugs. Lionel had said not to waste time with her phones, but that he did need each of the rooms attended to. Eric attached a listening device under the desk and then walked to the door to listen if anyone were in the outside hallway.  
  
Once he was certain he was alone he raced to the other rooms on the second floor and planted listening devices in each one. Creeping to the edge of the stairs he listened closely until he heard three different voices coming from the kitchen. He quickly ran down stairs and planted more devices in every room leaving the kitchen until last.  
  
Here he took the biggest risk of the evening. Pulling out the last bug he gathered his concentration until time seemed to slow around him. He then stepped into the kitchen where he saw Lana and Chloe talking by the counter making sandwiches with their backs to the kitchen table where Gabe sat eating. He ran to the table placed the bug underneath and then ran back out of the room.  
  
Gabe's head jerked up as he thought he caught movement out of the periphery of his vision. Looking around he saw nothing out of place though.  
  
"Did you girls just see anything?" he asked.  
  
"See anything?" Chloe replied. "What do you mean?"  
  
"Uh, nothing. Must have been my imagination." Gabe said shaking his head.  
  
Chloe cocked her eyebrow as she turned to look at Lana who simply answered by shrugging her shoulders.  
  
*******************************  
  
Eric continued out the door and down to the sidewalk before he slowed to a stop. It was a daring move because if anyone was looking they would have seen what appeared to be a teenager materializing seemingly out of no where in front of the Sullivan house.  
  
Eric felt pleased with himself. What's more he felt invigorated and powerful because he had been able to walk almost at will through a house full of people and no one was the wiser. It made him start to realize the power he welded despite not having all of his past abilities. Bolstered by these thoughts, he felt cocky enough to walk down the street at a normal pace in full view of anyone that cared to look. As he passed a guy sitting in a '68 charcoal-gray Ford Mustang he even shot him with a forefinger and said, "Hey, nice car."  
  
The man raised one eyebrow, but nodded his head in acknowledgement as Eric continued on by starting to chuckle to himself.  
  
Eric was in such high spirits that he barely noticed the tingling that was starting to spread through his joints.  
  
End - Part 4 


	5. Chapter 5

Part 5  
  
Over the next several days Eric tracked Chloe Sullivan's every move. He followed her back and forth between her home and the Torch office as well as various trips around town. Eric found Chloe's behavior fascinating to observe as he immersed himself more and more in her life. He had never gotten to know Chloe very well as she usually hung out with Clark and Pete, but he had always gotten the impression that she liked Clark as more than just a friend. He wondered what had happened to make her engage in an investigation of him as she apparently was doing now.  
  
Through listening in on the bugs he had planted Eric had learned that Clark was missing and that Chloe was quietly trying to find out as much information as possible about Clark. Under normal circumstances Eric would have written this off as one friend trying to find another, but while Lionel had been close mouthed about a lot of things regarding this assignment he had indicated that Chloe was working for him. Also, Chloe was being real circumspect with her questions. Since Eric knew that she was investigating Clark it was easy to pick up on when she started digging in that direction, but he was sure that it was something that would have been missed if you weren't looking for it.  
  
Following her downtown he expected her to stop at the Talon and go straight inside. He was intrigued when she parked a block away and simply sat in her car appearing to watch the door of the Talon. Eric ran into a side alley where it wouldn't be obvious that he was loitering watching Chloe's car.  
  
He was glad he did because within a minute the Mustang he had first seen a few days before cruised by. He had seen it off and on around town the past couple of days, but didn't recognize the driver. Eric had cursed himself for his stupidity in speaking to the guy ever since that day outside of the Sullivan's house. The only thing it accomplished was to draw attention to himself and all he needed at the moment was some idiot to call the police because he thought he saw some weirdo hanging around town spying on people.  
  
Within about a half-hour Lana Lang came out of the Talon, got in her truck and started down the street. Chloe started her car and began to follow her. Eric left the alley in pursuit wondering at the strangeness of following someone who was in turn following someone else.  
  
Once they were all on the open road Eric found it easier to run ahead about a half mile or so and wait somewhere concealed until they passed and then he would step back out and run ahead of them again. This rapidly became a slow and tedious process and Eric had started to give Chloe more and more leeway in running ahead or waiting to catch up. It was in doing this that he spotted the Mustang again.  
  
Eric instantly started feeling suspicious, but reminded himself that this stretch of interstate was pretty heavily traveled as it was the main artery to Metropolis from this part of the state and the odds were that Metropolis was the final destination of Lana and Chloe.  
  
Sure enough, not long after they entered Metropolis Eric lost sight of the Mustang. When Lana finally stopped and parked her car Eric was a few blocks back watching Chloe swing into a side alley to avoid being seen. A red VW Beetle, Eric decided smiling to himself, was probably not the best choice when tailing someone.  
  
Eric watched as Chloe parked illegally in the alley and headed out on foot to follow Lana. After a few minutes it became obvious that Lana was canvassing the area putting up posters. When Eric got close to one he saw that the poster had a picture of Clark Kent, a statement that he was missing and listed a couple of phone numbers to call should he be seen.  
  
Lana also stopped at the local stores she passed and talked briefly with the employees. Before leaving each one she handed them a small stack of flyers that Eric was sure contained the same information as the posters. After a few hours and a few neighborhoods later Lana headed back toward Smallville with Chloe not far behind.  
  
A couple of days later Eric found himself again sitting in the bushes near the Sullivan household listening in on a conversation between Chloe and Lana. This activity had quickly became a favorite pastime for Eric and helped to dispel feelings of loneliness, which had started to develop due to his enforced isolation. The two girls' conversation, however, quickly became one of disagreement once Chloe turned the topic around to Clark.  
  
*"I always wondered why he got so touchy about me looking into his adoption." Chloe said.*  
  
*"Lot's of adopted children are touchy about the subject." Lana answered. "They have a lot of questions themselves and are often too afraid of what the answers might be. I don't think it was too unusual."*  
  
*"Come on, Lana. We had an assignment due and he was ducking me. He had to know I would look for answers somewhere. I just think it's interesting that he was ducking me when the questions were about his past."*  
  
*"It was a six-page paper, Chloe." Lana replied. "You could have filled up half of it just discussing the day to day farm chores that he has to juggle with his school work. You told me that you actually looked up the history of agency that handled his adoption. Overkill much?"*  
  
*"I was just being thorough." Chloe said sounding defensive. "I didn't think that it was something to blow a gasket about."*  
  
*"You're not from around here Chloe. In small towns people know each other's business way too much. It tends to make us guard what privacy we have just a bit more than usual. The Kents are private people because that's the nature of their upbringing. Like Freud said, 'sometimes a cigar is just a cigar.'"*  
  
Normally Eric would have agreed, but knowing that Lionel was involved tended to make him a bit more suspicious than he perhaps normally would have been. Also, reading what little of Chloe's notebooks as he had been able to suggested that perhaps the craziness that was Smallville had finally attracted itself to Clark. That, or maybe whatever Clark had done that caused Eric to lose his powers had given Clark some of his own.  
  
Continuing to listen to the conversation Eric heard Chloe plow ahead trying to get information out of Lana only to run into a brick wall.  
  
"Listen, I know you're upset about Clark leaving and I know you've been spending a lot of time trying to find him on your own in Metropolis. It's stressing you out and I'd like to help."  
  
Eric heard a distinct pause before Lana spoke.  
  
*"Have you been following me, Chloe?"*  
  
*"I was just worried, Lana. You haven't been yourself and I just wanted to make sure you were Ok."*  
  
*"Thank you for your concern, Chloe, but like I said, people are private for a reason. Maybe you need to respect that more."*  
  
The conversation ended completely after that and Eric figured that both would be turning in for the night so he would be able to return to his hotel room for a good nights sleep as well. Rising to his feet he became aware again of the recurring tingling sensation in his joints that he had been experiencing off and on again for the past several days. This time, however, it felt a little more intense than usual.  
  
He was deciding whether or not to call Luthor about the problem when he caught a glimpse of someone moving across the street near some trees. Looking closely he swore it was the guy who drove the Mustang.  
  
He briefly wondered who the hell the guy was until the obvious answer hit him.  
  
"Who the hell else involved in this thing follows people around. He's got to be working for Luthor." Eric said to himself.  
  
Eric quickly forgot his pain, becoming angry that Luthor had sent a watchdog to follow him around. He didn't trust Chloe so he had sent Eric to watch her. Did this mean that now he didn't trust Eric?  
  
Without stopping to think things through Eric ran across the street and grabbed the man's shoulder from behind.  
  
"Alright, I don't need a watch-"  
  
Before he could finish his sentence and even before his super-fast reflexes could react the man grabbed his hand, twisted and slammed Eric into a tree. The man immediately followed up by striking a knee into the small of Eric's back and then slamming his head into the tree trunk after it snapped back. All of this took place in less than two seconds and the man then stepped back to allow Eric to fall to the ground.  
  
Eric was slightly dazed from the incident, but strangely didn't feel a lot of pain. When he began to get up from the ground he saw a momentary flicker of surprise on the man's face, but the man quickly narrowed his eyes and delivered a straight armed punch to Eric's face that knocked him back to the ground. Again Eric felt little pain and in fact realized that the burning sensation he had been experiencing was starting to fade and he was actually feeling better than he had in a long time. Eric heard the man let out a grunt of pain and looking up saw the man rubbing the hand that he had used to knock Eric down.  
  
Suddenly Eric realized what was happening. He was regaining his invulnerability. "And if that's the case," Eric thought to himself, "then my strength shouldn't be far behind."  
  
Regaining his feet, Eric felt a mean grin split his face and he reached for the man intent on testing his new found theory and providing some payback to his attacker's person. He suddenly found the hand he had extended trapped against the man's body and he was again propelled through the air and guided to land heavily on the ground hitting hard enough to knock the breath out of his body. The air was further forced from his lungs as the man dropped to one knee onto Eric's chest and quickly delivered two blows to Eric's face with the hills of his hands before back flipping to his feet where he crouched in readiness.  
  
This was becoming annoying and not just a little embarrassing. Deciding that enough was enough Eric engaged his super speed and regaining his feet slammed full tilt into his attacker's body. This time Eric was greeted with the sound of his attacker having the breath knocked from his body, but before he could enjoy the experience his feet were swept out from under him.  
  
The man wrapped an arm around Eric's neck and used his own momentum to once again slam Eric into the tree even harder than before. Eric was convinced that had he not been regaining his invulnerability the impact would have broken several ribs. Falling to his knees Eric was immediately assaulted by a knee to the face driving his head back into the tree which was quickly followed by a roundhouse kick to his head that knocked him back to the ground.  
  
Eric knew his invulnerability was coming back full force, because the last couple of hits hadn't even fazed him except to knock him off balance. He rolled to his feet and spun around ready this time to tear this smartass limb from limb. The only trouble was that he found himself totally alone. Turning full circle he tried to locate his opponent, but no one was within view.  
  
"What the hell?" Eric muttered aloud.  
  
Eric knew he hadn't imagined the incident. He had felt just enough from the man's blows that he knew he was real. If the man truly did work for Luthor then he was definitely worth whatever he was being paid. A normal person would have been crippled by any one of the attacks that had been perpetrated upon Eric. "And with this disappearing act?" Eric said aloud, "Apparently I'm not the only super powered person on the LuthorCorp payroll."  
  
End Part 5 


	6. Chapter 6

Part 6  
  
Once he had time to process the incident with the stranger Eric began to formulate some questions. Was the man sent to spy on Eric or was he just an extra pair of eyes to watch Chloe or was there some third possibility that Eric knew nothing about?  
  
Whatever the answer, Eric pushed these thoughts from his head for the moment because he had even bigger questions now. He already had super- speed, but that had been explained away as his DNA mimicking the little girl's who for some strange reason also had that power. But, if that was the case how was it possible that he was regaining all of his past abilities?  
  
Eric quickly did a run through testing each ability and sure enough, he still had his speed, but in addition also had his old strength back as well as his invulnerability. The first two questions that followed this verification were one, was it permanent or just temporary and two, if it was permanent how could he protect himself from losing them like he did last time especially since he didn't know exactly how he lost them at all.  
  
He briefly thought about running to Metropolis to consult Dr. Stephens, but quickly tabled the idea as he knew that whatever he told Stephens automatically went to Luthor. Luthor had made it clear the type of life he had planned for Eric should he ever get his powers back. Sure, he couched it with all types of platitudes, promising Eric anything he wanted just for a few simple "favors," but Eric knew what Luthor really meant. Eric would be a virtual slave so long as he had that explosive implanted in his head subject to whatever whims Luthor had.  
  
That thought, of course, led to the crux of the matter. What was he going to be able to do about the explosive and the tracking device that had been implanted and would the explosive even affect him now that he had regained his invulnerability. For that matter, how was he even sure that there actually was a tracking device and explosive implanted in his head and he wasn't just being the victim of a big bluff.  
  
Eric sat down in the grass under the tree that still bore evidence of his recent fight and thought about his next course of action. First of all, obviously he would keep his newfound abilities to himself. The problem with this was that if the stranger was a LuthorCorp employee then he must know something was up due to Eric's resistance to his attacks.  
  
So, move number one would be to act as he normally would in this situation. Call Luthor and report the stranger and confront Luthor about sending a watchdog after him. He would also tell Luthor that he had suffered some minor injuries from the fight that might throw him off the scent if the stranger reported that Eric had been some kind of superman who couldn't be hurt.  
  
Best case scenario would be that he would be instructed to stay in the area and continue doing what he was doing. This would at least have the advantage of allowing Eric some time to come up with a better plan. The worst case scenario would be that Luthor recall him to Metropolis to have Dr. Stephens check him out, but that would at least give Eric access to Dr. Stephens and some answers about the implants. That way if he had to he could force the answers from Stephens without having to worry that the tracking device would place him in an area that he wasn't supposed to be in.  
  
After he returned to his hotel room in Grandville he briefly rehearsed what he was going to say before picking up his cell phone and dialing Lionel's private line.  
  
"Mr. Summers," Luthor's cheerful voice greeted him after the third ring, alerted, Eric assumed, by caller I.D. as to who was on the other side of the phone "to what do I owe the pleasure of this call?"  
  
Eric rolled his eyes silently thankful that this wasn't a video phone.  
  
"I just had a little run in with someone."  
  
"What do you mean?" Luthor's voice suddenly became deadly serious.  
  
"I mean that while I was watching the Sullivan house someone was watching me. Did you send him?"  
  
"No, I didn't. Did you get close enough to get a description?"  
  
"Close? Yeah, you could say that. I tried to surprise the guy and he cleaned my clock."  
  
"He was faster than you?" Lionel asked incredulously.  
  
"I don't know if he was faster. At least I don't think so. I just know he could have kicked the crap out of Bruce Lee if he wanted to. He certainly did me. But, he did disappear into thin air so who knows, maybe he was faster after all."  
  
That actually hadn't occurred to Eric before, but he supposed that when he ran off it did appear to people that he had disappeared so maybe the stranger did something similar. But, if that guy could pull it off with Eric's enhanced senses then who knew how fast he was.  
  
"I just figured he was some guy you sent to keep track of me." Eric said.  
  
"No, Eric," Lionel answered deep in thought "I didn't send anyone. What did he look like, did he say anything?"  
  
"Never made a sound." Eric answered. "But, as for what he looks like, I'd say he's a few years older than me, over six-feet tall, built like a body builder. Not Schwartzenager big, but big, you know? He had blond hair. Eyes looked kind of blue-gray. Had a nasty looking scar on the right side of his face next to his eye. Oh, yeah. He's driving some kind of old, sixties type Mustang. Real dark gray. I've seen him around town the past few days."  
  
"Could you tell what he was doing when you saw him?" Lionel asked  
  
"Just driving around or parked." Eric answered. "I generally saw him whenever I was around Chloe."  
  
"Do you think he was watching her rather than you?"  
  
"It's a possibility I guess. What do you want me to do?"  
  
"Are you injured?"  
  
"Not bad. A few bruises, but nothing that won't fade by tomorrow probably."  
  
"Then sit tight. Watch Sullivan for a bit longer until I can send you some relief. Keep an eye out for your friend in the Mustang, though and call me if he shows up again. I think we may have all we'll get from Ms. Sullivan, but I'm intrigued by your mysterious visitor. When your relief gets there tomorrow or the day after I want you to head back here. I want Stephens to run some more tests on you now that your body's had time to adjust to your speed powers."  
  
***********************  
  
The next day Eric was back in place following Chloe. This time she went out to the Kent Farm and spoke briefly with Mr. Kent. The visit was brief enough that Eric hadn't even figured out where he could stand to get a good vantage point and listen in when Chloe returned to her car and started down the road. His first thought was that Mr. Luthor would be mad that he hadn't recorded Chloe's and Mr. Kent's conversation, but then it occurred to Eric that what Lionel didn't know wouldn't hurt him.  
  
Chloe next went to the Talon where she confronted Pete. From past experience following Chloe around Eric knew that it was dangerous to follow her into a room. It wasn't like he could simply run from one side of the room to the other to stay invisible. If he entered the Talon then he was at risk of being identified so when Chloe got out of her car and started for the door of the coffee house Eric ran by and attached the bug to the back of her belt.  
  
"You've been avoiding me" was the first statement Eric heard her say after she entered the Talon.  
  
After a brief second Eric heard Pete reply.  
  
*"Nah, Chlo. I've just had a lot of things to do around the house. My brother's getting his things ready to move to the dorm so the Ross's are doing a little room shuffling."*  
  
*"Really?" Chloe said. "It seemed like it just happened after I started asking about Clark's secrets."*  
  
*"Chloe, come on. I know you've made a career out of the Wall of Weird, but let's give it a break OK? You've known Clark for two years. He's a geeky farm kid with a hard case paragon of virtue for a father, a saint for a mother, and a crush on the former head cheerleader. A little strange, perhaps, but strictly middle-America strange. You hop on over to Grandville and you'll probably find his separated at birth twin."*  
  
*"A twin that can survive a blast furnace? A twin that can take a hit from a flail and walk away when the flail doesn't?"*  
  
Eric had read a few of these things in Chloe's notebooks, but it still felt strange to hear them out loud. It was sounding more and more like Clark had either developed similar powers to Eric's or perhaps had powers that he had stolen from Eric that day over a year ago at the dam.  
  
*"What on earth are you talking about, Chloe?"*  
  
*"I think you know, Pete. Maybe everyone else likes to keep their heads in the sand, but I look for answers. I know about the things that Clark can do."*  
  
*"The things that Clark can do? Chloe you're not making any sense."*  
  
*"Come on, Pete. You've seen this stuff as many times as I have. Strange things happen in this town. The meteor shower changed things."*  
  
Eric heard a short pause before Chloe continued.  
  
*"They changed people. People doing extraordinary things isn't so extraordinary anymore."*  
  
*"What's this got to do with Clark, Chloe?" Pete asked.*  
  
*"The strength, the invulnerability. Do I need to add more, Pete?"*  
  
*"Strength and invulnerability, right." Pete said "When Eric Summers threw Clark into that car and broke his ribs or when he went into the coma after that contagion exposure. Yeah, I can see it now. It was all a ruse so we wouldn't notice he had become a super meteor mutant."*  
  
*"Good catch, Chloe." Pete continued. "You'll have to send me a copy of the book if you get it published. Oh, and autograph it too. It sells better on Ebay if its autographed."*  
  
Eric heard an extended pause before Pete spoke again.  
  
*"Come see me after you turn off that Twilight Zone episode playing over and over again in your head."*  
  
Eric leaned against the alley wall as he digested this. He remembered throwing Clark into that car and it had knocked him unconscious so obviously Pete was right and Clark didn't have any powers then. He didn't know about any mysterious disease. That must have happened after his incarceration. Did that mean that he didn't have powers later either? If that was the case then he couldn't have stolen Eric's powers. Oh, he was sure that Clark was responsible for him losing his, but maybe it wasn't some kind of transfer of powers after all.  
  
Eric suddenly looked up as he caught sight of Chloe leaving the Talon and getting into her car. As she started moving he sat out on foot again tracking her progress.  
  
End - Part Six 


	7. Chapter 7

Part Seven  
  
Eric's replacements arrived the next morning. Three guys who barely spoke and told him simply that it was time for him to "head back."  
  
Eric had gathered a few of his things leaving most of his clothing to be brought back later by the three men. He then headed toward Metropolis formulating his plan as he went.  
  
The biggest question he had was the extent of his invulnerability. Was it enough to survive the explosion? Or was it just enough to survive and be left a vegetable? Did he even dare risk everything on a flip of the coin confrontation with the hopes that his speed, strength and invulnerability would allow him to stop Luthor from even answering any of those questions.  
  
Arriving back at LuthorCorp Eric was escorted to his old room and told that Dr. Stephens would send for him later. Eric dropped his bag in the corner of the room and lay down on the bed trying to think of what to do. He was acutely aware of the ticking clock contained in this situation. It wouldn't take Stephens long to realize that Eric was fully powered once he started running tests. That meant that Eric had almost no time at all if he was going to control the situation because once Luthor knew what was up Eric would be left having to react to whatever moves Luthor initiated.  
  
Eric became infuriated at that thought. He was always reacting instead of acting. All of his life he had been reacting to what other people did. What other people decided. First his father running his life and then later when he started liking Holly he'd been stuck having to react to her starting to date Brent. When he finally had the power to take what he wanted, to do what he wanted he'd had to react to his father's decision to call the police and send him away. He'd had to react to his parents' fear of what he now was. He'd never gotten to enjoy his life because he had always been trying to clean up the messes that other people created for him.  
  
Now Luthor was deciding his life for him. Where he went, what he did. Whether he lived or died.  
  
"Maybe I should just kill them all." Eric said aloud.  
  
The thought both chilled and warmed him. He may have hurt people in the past, but he had never killed a living soul. But, he had the power to. No matter what Luthor could do or have done to him, Eric knew that if it came down to it he could probably kill him before whatever retaliation had been planned could be completed.  
  
He had the power of life and death here and he was tired of being the pawn. Luthor had said once that Eric was a blank canvas on which he would create a masterpiece.  
  
"Well, Mr. Luthor," Eric said quietly to himself "this masterpiece may finally be the one you can't afford."  
  
******************************  
  
A little while later Eric's door opened up and Brian stepped in.  
  
"Time to see the doc, kid" Brian said gesturing for Eric to get off the bed and proceed him out the door.  
  
"Don't you ever knock?" Eric said tersely.  
  
Brian raised an eyebrow and simply stared at Eric for a moment before answering.  
  
"Are we going to have problems, kid?"  
  
Eric met the stare for a moment before a smile crossed his face.  
  
"Nah, Brian. We're old friends. Everything is just peachy."  
  
Eric swung his legs to the floor, hopped up and walked briskly out of the room starting to hum to himself.  
  
After a moment of staring at Eric's back in puzzlement Brian followed.  
  
**************************  
  
As Eric entered the lab he saw Dr. Stephens sitting at a desk going over some papers.  
  
"What's up, Doc?" Eric asked cheerfully as he walked up to Stephens.  
  
Dr. Stephens looked up with a perplexed expression on his face as if he couldn't understand Eric's apparent good mood.  
  
"Oh, Eric. Go ahead and lay down on the examining table. I need to get a blood sample."  
  
Eric cleared some papers off of the corner of Stephens' desk and had a seat there instead.  
  
"We'll get to that in a moment, Doc. You and I need to talk over a few things first."  
  
Stephens stared at him in surprise and didn't answer at first. Brian started forward and interrupted before the doctor could formulate a coherent thought.  
  
"Hey, kid, what the hell do you think you're doing? The doc said to get on the table."  
  
"Brian, Brian, Brian," Eric said shaking his head "we're not going to have problems are we?"  
  
Brian's face went red and he reached for Eric. Eric grabbed Brian's outstretched arm and twisted.  
  
"Aaarrrggg" was all Brian could scream as he went to his knees.  
  
Leaning forward still holding on to the arm, Eric grabbed a fist full of Brian's shirtfront and put his face close to his.  
  
"Brian, do you remember that conversation you and I had not too long after I got here about obeying the rules without question? Well, I do."  
  
Eric twisted suddenly and threw Brian into the lab wall. The plaster cracked and Brian dropped to the floor unconscious.  
  
Eric knew he had just crossed the point of no return.  
  
Turning back to Dr. Stephens Eric saw him frozen in place with a look of shock on his face. Speaking conversationally Eric addressed the doctor.  
  
"Ok, Doc. Now let's get a question and answer session started. Tell me everything you know about the things you planted in my head."  
  
"Wha, what do you mean?" Stephens stammered.  
  
Eric sighed and tilted his head as he looked at the doctor. He then suddenly brought his fist down on top of the desk and broke it in two.  
  
"The implants, doc. What monitors and controls them? Or maybe you would prefer a more personal demonstration?"  
  
"Luthor!" Stephens almost screamed "he keeps the detonator on him. The tracking device is here in the lab, but he keeps the detonator with him at all times."  
  
"All times?" Eric asked.  
  
"Yes, it's just a small remote. He keeps it in his pocket. "  
  
"Where is he now?"  
  
"In his office. I just talked to him."  
  
Stephens was shaking now. Almost in hysterics.  
  
"And his office would be..?" Eric prompted.  
  
"51st floor. Corner facing the Daily Planet building." Stephens quickly replied shrinking away from Eric.  
  
"Thanks, doc." Eric said almost casually tapping him on the head and knocking him unconscious.  
  
Eric turned and quickly made for the stairwell. He made the climb in under two seconds and barely slowed down as he entered the corridor of the 51st floor. He headed in the direction Stephens had told him and soon found the door marked "Lionel Luthor."  
  
This was it, Eric thought. He was about to beard the Lion in his own den.  
  
He engaged his speed yet again in opening the door to the outer office and was past the receptionist and into Lionel's office before she could even notice that a breeze had disturbed the papers on her desk.  
  
Lionel looked up in surprise when Eric suddenly appeared in front of his desk.  
  
"Eric, what the hell is going on here? Why are you here?"  
  
"Lionel," Eric said, "we have to talk."  
  
Lionel leaned back in his chair and stared sternly at Eric.  
  
"I fail to see what about."  
  
"That's because you're reacting to me now, Lionel. I'm calling the shots."  
  
"You're calling the shots?" Lionel asked acting as though he was talking to a slow child.  
  
Eric's temper immediately reached a boiling point.  
  
"Yeah, me. And I think I'll just take that little detonator you have in your pocket before you do something stupid that will make me rip a few of your fingers off if I have to take it from you."  
  
Lionel simply stared in amazement at Eric before he suddenly began to chuckle.  
  
"Really Eric." Lionel said. "You must think I'm incredibly stupid."  
  
"What do you mean?" Eric asked beginning to have an uneasy feeling.  
  
"Do you actually think that I, the person who gave you your power of super speed, would be ignorant of exactly what you could do with it? That I would just keep the trigger to the explosive on my person so you could grab it on a whim and then do with me as you pleased?"  
  
Lionel was laughing out loud at this point and reached into his pocket pulling out a small device that resembled a cell phone.  
  
"I'll tell you what, Eric. I'll give you a sporting chance. Obviously, we can no longer work together. You don't trust me and I certainly now don't trust you so we're going to have to come to some sort of accord."  
  
"This," Lionel said, holding out the device in his hand, "is 'one' of the triggering devices for the explosive in your head."  
  
"You could grab it from my hand before I could even consider pulling my hand back. Of course, the problem with that" Lionel continued as he leaned back in his seat "is that I just now triggered a signal to the security office to monitor me by close circuit television." Lionel nodded toward a small camera in the corner before continuing.  
  
"They have a 'second' device which they will trigger if you grab this one or if you harm me in any way."  
  
The sinking feeling Eric had started to feel was in full force now. He had gambled and he had lost. There was no way he could grab Lionel's remote and find the security office in time to take theirs' before they triggered it.  
  
"The sporting chance I offer" Lionel continued, "is that this device has a limited range. I'll give you a sixty-second head start before I trigger it. If you can get out of the building and out of the area in that amount of time all you have to do is never come near me or mine again. The time starts now."  
  
Despite Lionel's attempt to unnerve Eric he disappeared virtually the instant Lionel said "now." Lionel began counting out loud. Unfortunately for Eric, Lionel's nature was to cheat at everything he did. He pushed the button at ten rather than at sixty. He told himself that it really didn't matter because he had lied about the range of the signal. The device was hooked up to a satellite and could have reached the receiver in Eric's head anywhere on the planet. He was simply sparing Eric the torture of having to wait.  
  
Putting the device down on his desk he touched a button on his intercom to signal his secretary.  
  
"Ms. Fields, please call Mr. Morris and ask him to join me in my office and tell him to bring up some plastic drop cloths from maintenance as well."  
  
Ms. Sullivan would be here shortly and he had to be adequately prepared.  
  
************************ Later that night Lionel walked tiredly into his bedroom. He hadn't lived in his suburban mansion on the outskirts of Metropolis since shortly after the death of his wife. Business and the various conquests it offered had always been his passion, but after Lillian's passing it had become the sole driving force in his life. He had eventually converted the top two floors of LuthorCorp into a lavish condominium so he need never be far from a deal that was being made or a conquest that was taking place.  
  
On nights like tonight it also allowed him to find much needed refuge without having to fight the Metropolis traffic. Lionel was tired. The events of the past few days had exhausted him more than any other in recent memory. He had known that the game he was now playing had higher stakes than any he had ever played before. When he caught himself contemplating the murder of two 16-year old kids that had become quite clear. The entire Chloe Sullivan debacle alone was going to have repercussions that would extend God alone knew how far.  
  
Lionel shook his head as he changed into his sleeping clothes. He had thought he was being so coy to have the plastic placed on the floor of his office to protect the carpet from the mess. He knew now just as he knew then that the cold bloodedness of the act was motivated to disassociate him from what he was having to do and re-enforce to himself that he was a cold blooded businessman who was prepared to win this game at any cost. Even the cost of two teenagers' lives. The plastic had saved his carpet, but the walls still bore evidence of the day's deeds as did the chill Lionel now felt in his soul. He had better gain ultimate power, he told himself, because after today he knew that when his actions caught up with him he didn't want to be defenseless.  
  
He had truly hated having to dispose of Eric because he had been a valuable commodity, but the trouble with keeping a dangerous animal around was that it would sometimes turn on its master. Eric had shown signs of becoming as independent as Chloe Sullivan had been and as with Ms. Sullivan, Lionel couldn't risk that independence. As much potential as Eric had, Lionel was not going to risk everything on someone whose loyalty he wasn't sure about. At least, he thought to himself that was one loose end he had been able to tie up.  
  
Lionel's private musings were suddenly interrupted by a voice from out of the shadows.  
  
"I'm curious," Eric said, "did you think you would be dressed in silk pajamas when your mistakes finally caught up with you?"  
  
The End  
  
To be continued in "Shadows." 


End file.
